What is a Watershed?

Every person on this planet lives in a watershed. A watershed is the area that drains water to the same place. During every rainfall, the surface water flows into a stream, river, or lake. Some of that water ends up in your glass after it travels through the water cycle. Water picks up pollutants along its journey. The quality of the water decreases as more contaminants join the flow, destroying wildlife habitats and even contaminate our drinking supply.

Watershed Management

The Evergreen Lake & Lake Bloomington watersheds have plans to improve water quality and management. Their watershed plans share a purpose to use proactive strategies to maximize local control. Do your part to keep our water clean and safe. Evergreen Lake receives the water drained from the Village of Hudson, the far north edge of the Town of Normal, and agricultural land in McLean & Woodford counties. It was built to be a supplemental drinking water source for the City of Bloomington. Six Mile Creek deposits its water into Evergreen Lake.

Protect Our Water

Reduce chemical and fertilizer use
Don’t mow close to streams
Do not flush medicine/pharmaceuticals down the drain
Use native plants as a natural buffer to keep pollutants out of the lakes, streams, and rivers
Divert downspouts away from pavement and into rain barrels or rain gardens
Get involved and provide feedback at watershed planning meetings
Properly maintain septic systems and have them inspected regularly
Do not feed waterfowl
Adjust boat speed to reduce erosive wakes
Avoid spilling gas, oil, paint, varnish, or stripper